


Cough syrup and Vicodin

by Anonymous



Category: Eerie Creek, Monster of the Week (Tabletop RPG), Original Work
Genre: Fainting, Fever, Fluff, Fun fact: if you're fainting suddenly you should Not Do That, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Illnesses, Monster of the Week, Original Character(s), Original Universe, Shippy Gen, Sickfic, Sleep Deprivation, Whump, this is after the halloween thing so viv's crush is hinted at is what I mean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-27 10:15:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30121221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: “I am fine.” Vivian pushed her chair back, starting again to get to her feet. “I just need to drink some water.” Waving Gwen away, she gathered up her notes with shaking hands and stuffed them into the pages of the textbook, before straightening up. Her blood pounded in her ears at the action, and she could feel the tips of her fingers buzzing as if going numb, but she resolutely ignored the feeling.akaVivian overworks herself after the robot bear incident and pays the goddamn price for her hubris
Relationships: Established Gwen Guerrera/Ana, Hinted Theo Preston/Vivian Coronel
Kudos: 3
Collections: Anonymous





	Cough syrup and Vicodin

Keeping your thumb on top of monster attacks was exhausting.

Vivian had spent the past four hours trying to decipher the page beneath her hand, and as she turned her head to glance at the window, saw the first glow of daylight streaming in. She had pulled another all-nighter without realising; and was still none the wiser about the strange assortment of glyphs, pencil sketches and post-it notes spread out in front of her. 

Groaning, Vivian pushed back from her desk, shaking out the tension in her hands before running them through her hair. Folding her glasses away, she rose unsteadily, making her way to the bathroom to wash her face and prepare for the school day ahead - stopping in her tracks as her vision blurred. Dark spots and static filled her vision for an indeterminate moment, before she blinked it away, realising that she was now somehow crouched on the ground. 

This would not be a good day. 

.

The gentle clinking of keys against his lanyard echoed in the hallway as Theo pushed against the door handle to the robotics lab. The hallways were usually packed, but students were quick to leave soon after the final bell had rung, making the creaking of the aging wood resound eerily with the absence of any other sounds of life. 

"Fuck, this is what the robotics club works with?" Gwen scuffed her boot against the brick wall, scrunching up her nose as it kicked up a cloud of dust. "I thought nerdy stuff was supposed to get good funding."

"I don't think rural mining towns are particularly invested in high school-level robotics," Theo quipped, finally finding the key he was looking for, "we're pretty lucky that Glenn agreed to let us in here without supervision."

"Agreed is one way to put it." Spooks grinned, "I'm getting pretty good at manipulating- woah. Vivian?"

The room in front of them was already half-lit, the fluorescent lighting of the school basement illuminating the girl in question. Vivian sat crouched over some sort of textbook, eyes flicking up for only a moment to acknowledge the other three before she returned to the object of her concentration. "Close the door behind you."

"How'd you get here before us?" Gwen turned to lock the heavy door behind them, wincing as it creaked loudly. She didn't miss as Vivian mirrored the gesture, pushing her glasses up her face as she pinched between her eyes. "We met up as soon as last period ended, but couldn't find you anywhere."

"Had a couple spares today. Got here at lunch. My parents are out of town so I thought I'd get some headway on- would you fuck off?" Vivian attempted to brush off Spooks, who had floated far too close to her in an attempt to look at what she was studying. Strange runes littered the margins of the seemingly normal chemistry textbook, and a few printouts of web pages on ancient languages were scattered across the table and taped to the whiteboard behind them.

"Well those certainly aren't English." Theo had walked up to the whiteboard and was now examining the glyphs himself. "Not another talking textbook?"

"N-no. This is Tiffany's." Vivian tugged at a bookmark lodged a few pages back, flipping to a section on redox equations. "Whatever that thing had her writing about, it started about here. We had this lesson about a week before everything happened. It's unlikely it had anything to do with the shapeshifter or An… or those scientists." Feeling Gwen's eyes on her, she pushed back from the table, running a hand absentmindedly through her hair. "That's about when she started wearing the beanie all the time too, so it makes sense."

"You've been here since noon? Why didn't you text us?" Theo turned to look back at the table where Spooks and Gwen had both taken a seat across from Vivian. 

Gwen scoffed. "With what?" She raised her left hand to her ear in a 'telephone' gesture, a teasing grin dancing on her face. "The phones that Tiffany blew up?"

"You haven't bought new ones yet?" Spooks leaned forward to brace her arms on the table with a puzzled expression. "I know phones are expensive, but don't you have warranties?"

"Some of us have parents we have to explain shit to." Vivian's gaze remained fixed on the pages in front of her despite her biting tone. The statement hung in the air for a few moments.

"Wh- that's kinda uncalled for, Vivian." Theo's voice wavered slightly as he shifted on his feet, drawing a sympathetic look from Spooks.

"I was actually making some progress on these before you walked in. If you're going to be in here, can you be quiet?" Vivian flipped a page, pausing to glance up with narrowed eyes. "What _are_ you here for, anyways?"

"Glenn said Tiffany left some robotics projects behind before 'the accident'," Spooks formed quotation marks with her bandage-covered fingers, "and they agreed to let us take a look at whatever's in here! Including stuff for the EM- EMT? EMZ?"

"EMP." Interjected Gwen.

"Right, the Eeyempi."

"Mm," Vivian hummed in affirmation, pushing the textbook away from her as she moved to stand up. "In that case, I think there were a few…” she trailed off, staring into space for a few moments as she swayed on her feet, her hand still on the table anchoring her. “I…”

“Vivian?” Gwen rose and stepped forward, a frown twisting on her lips as she crossed to the smaller girl’s side and laid her hand on her shoulder, where she could feel a faint tremor. More worryingly, she watched as Vivian blinked for a few seconds before even recognising the presence, immediately wrenching herself backwards and falling gracelessly back into her chair. She scowled back up at Gwen, although the effect was diminished by her faint shivering, apparent now that the latter looked carefully. The basement of the school was cold, but Gwen had hardly noticed under her bomber jacket. Vivian, on the other hand, was wearing nothing but a t-shirt, skirt and tights, having ditched her characteristic sweater during the second shapeshifter debacle; Gwen would likely have chalked this up as the source of Vivian’s strange behaviour were it not for the faint flush on the girl’s face.

“The fuck are you doing?” Vivian’s nose scrunched up as she tried to avoid the hand Gwen reached toward her, wincing as it found her forehead. Admittedly, the cool hand against her skin felt nice, and Vivian had to consciously prevent herself from leaning into it, eyelashes fluttering against her will, ignoring the muffled voices around her. Shaking her head quickly as the hand retreated, she wrenched her eyes open to see Theo and Spooks had both moved to flank Gwen, staring at her as if expecting a response. “What?” she groused.

“You’re sick, Vivian.” Spooks’ eyes bore into her, the unnerving green trained on her with a focus unusual for the lackadaisical phantom. “You need to go home. Did you drive to school today?”

“I am _fine._ ” Vivian pushed her chair back, starting again to get to her feet. “I just need to drink some water.” Waving Gwen away, she gathered up her notes with shaking hands and stuffed them into the pages of the textbook, before straightening up. Her blood pounded in her ears at the action, and she could feel the tips of her fingers buzzing as if going numb, but she resolutely ignored the feeling. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to finish my work somewhere quieter.” She made to move for the door, but faltered as static filled her vision as it had earlier that morning. Theo this time was faster than the other two, darting to catch her as she pitched forward bonelessly. Her glasses slipped off her nose, a distinct _clink_ signaling they had hit the floor.

"Fuck!"

"Vivian!" 

Theo's lowered them both to the ground, brushing her bangs to the side and wincing at the heat. 

"Shit… she's burning." He bit his lip and shifted her so she was leaning fully against him. "Vivian?"

" _Hnghbhbrr…_ " she grumbled weakly, curling up tighter. Her eyelashes fluttered, but she offered no other response.

"There's no way she's driving herself home like this." Gwen crossed her arms and sighed. "If Ana were here we could try to void magic her back home, but I can't call her…"

"Does she live far?" Spooks was fiddling with the bandages on her hands nervously, frowning when Theo and Gwen shot a blank look at one another before returning her gaze. "Do _either_ of you know where she lives?"

"Hey, you don't either." Theo protested weakly.

"I'm a _ghost_? I haven't been to Gwen's place either! I just crash at yours or the graveyard!"

Gwen grimaced. "I guess we're not taking her home. I hope her parents won't be worried- she said they were out of town, right?"

"She can't stay here." Theo had shifted positions and Vivian's head now lay in his lap, where he was absentmindedly smoothing out her hair. "I don't live far."

"I suppose that's better than trying to keep her from falling off a two-person motorbike. Can you carry her that far, or do you want me to try?"

Theo shook his head. "I'll manage. Help me get her on my back?"

It took a bit of maneuvering, but with a few minutes and some Spooks-style telekinetic help, Theo could carry Vivian piggyback with little trouble. The process had apparently not been as smooth as hoped, though, as the girl lifted her head from Theo's shoulder with hazy eyes, blinking before settling on the first person in front of her. 

"Spukss…?"

"That's me." The phantom poked her nose lightly. "You fainted. How do you feel?"

It was unclear if Vivian registered the statement, as she only scrunched up her nose and turned her head back into Theo's shoulder. "M'tired…"

"Can you tell us where you live?" Gwen leaned over to pick up the fallen glasses, putting them into Vivian's backpack where she had already gathered the loose papers. But straightening up, she saw Vivian's eyes were once again closed. 

"Well, I guess that settles it. Theo's apartment it is." She bounced on the balls of her feet for a moment, before suddenly tossing the bag at Spooks, who apparently had great reaction time, catching it easily. "I already know where you live, dude, so I think I'll pick up some medicine and meet you there."

"Grab a thermometer while you're at it?"

Gwen had already stepped through the doorway, spinning her motorcycle keys on her finger. "You got it." She shot them both a wolfish grin before heading towards the stairs in the direction of the parking lot.

"Just us then." Spooks floated slightly at Theo's side as they started out. "Gotta admit, not really my area of expertise. If I've been sick before I don't remember it."

"Everyone gets sick at some point, so I'm sure you have been. But yeah, I'm gonna make some soup when we get home." He gave her a teasing grin. "You're not allowed near my stove again."

" _Hey_ , that fire wasn't even that big! And you need fire for crème brûlée!"

"That's not how you make crème brûlée. There were tomatoes."

"You clearly don't understand fine cuisine, Theo. Tomatoes are a very valuable fruit-"

Their walk to Theo's apartment did not feel as though it was ten minutes, if only because Spooks' escalating suggestions for new flavour profiles kept the two in intense conversation throughout. Despite still shuddering at the suggestion of peanut butter and scallops in salad, Theo was able to lay Vivian down on the couch and place a wet cloth on her head before moving to the kitchen and starting on his soup, while Spooks flopped onto his armchair and started channel surfing.

Only a few minutes later did he get a text from Gwen, buzzing her into the apartment, and she quickly set into the living room to check on Vivian. There were the whispers of a hushed conversation, and then a faint sound of what was either Spanish or Tagalog swearing (due to the slight slurring in the tone, likely from Vivian), before Gwen returned to the kitchen with a triumphant smirk on her face.

"Got her to take the medicine."

"Thanks." Theo smiled at her. "I really don't think I could've done it myself. Mind grabbing a few bowls for us?"

"You got it, chief." Gwen quickly located the utensils needed and helped Theo divide the soup into three bowls, with some crackers so Spooks could feel included. The two moved back into the living room to set everything down, where their ghostly friend had put on some awful B-movie about a demonic possession. Vivian still lay on the couch, but her eyes were now open, hazily watching the two as they entered. She cleared her throat with a rough cough.

"You, uh. You didn't have to bring me back to your place."

"I'm sorry," Theo rubbed the back of his neck, "we didn't know where else to leave you. I hope you're not mad."

"No, I uh-" Vivian flushed red and averted her eyes, and Theo idly wondered if he should fetch the thermometer. "I mean. It was nice of you. Um. Thank you."

"Oh!" He let his shoulders slump again in relief. "Of course. We're your friends, you know? We weren't just gonna leave you there."

Vivian bit her lip, but for the first time since he'd met her, didn't argue. She only huffed noncommittally before wiggling herself out from her blanket. She joined Theo and Gwen sitting on the floor, sitting between the two and reaching for her bowl. Spooks, not one to be left out, rolled off of the armchair and sidled up to Theo, languidly stretching and kicking her feet up on the table. This earned her a sharp look from her best friend, but he didn't voice any protest, knowing that correcting Spooks' manners is a losing battle.

The movie that Spooks had put on was hardly high quality, but nonetheless engaging. Theo could predict the scares from a mile away, but the exaggerated acting and awful early-2000s CGI made the lack of buildup worth it anyways. It was only about an hour into the movie, as the protagonist pored over some old tome she'd found in the dusty attic describing the demon, that he felt a weight land on his shoulder.

Moving slowly so as not to jostle whoever it was, Theo craned his neck to see a head of long brown hair at his side. Vivian's cheek was squished up against his arm, her sleeping face still slightly furrowed, but noticeably softer than her usual scowl. Further past her, Gwen laid half-sprawled on the couch, an arm and a leg dangling off its side, a few strands of her hair shifting as she breathed deeply. Checking his other side, Theo's suspicions were confirmed - Spooks was also out like a light, her form slightly translucent from her lack of conscious effort in maintaining it.

Theo leaned back, allowing his own eyes to flutter closed. He sighed, content, and allowed the background noise of the movie and the warmth of his friends at his side to lull him to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Smokey Eyes by Lincoln because honestly, what did you expect.  
> I'mma be real with you chief this is the first time I've written fiction so I'm super nervous abt it
> 
> Also. I posted under anon because I don't have an account for my art username. And I don't want you fuckers knowing my old warrior cats username lmao  
> Might reupload once I get an invite for my art username :')
> 
> If you're not from my campaign. uh. Hi! Please drop a comment I'd love to know why you clicked on this fic, thank you for doing so :)


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